


Futurist Dreams

by AgentLaufeyson



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: And you see where I'm going with that, Bruce has insomnia, FLUFF IS MY DRUG, Fiction, Fluff, General fiction, Insomnia, It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!, Literature, M/M, Music, RDJ sings, SO MUCH FLUFF, Short Stories, So Tony does too, ehehehehe, prose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-06 07:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3126737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentLaufeyson/pseuds/AgentLaufeyson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dealing with a particularly troublesome bout of Insomnia, Bruce is a standstill with his options. He has tried many things to try and relieve the sleeplessness, but nothing seems to work. Out of Ideas, he turns to Jarvis for help, the AI suggesting the use of Music to help him fall asleep. Bruce takes the advice, but he finds more that he imagined when he's searching for relaxing songs.</p><p>Tony sings?<br/>-------<br/>This summary does not do this fic justice. Please read and judge it yourself. Trust me, I'm the Doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Futurist Dreams

Bruce's eyes fluttered open, the visual of the ceiling coming to the path of his vision. He sighed and then rolled over, looking at his clock located on his nightstand.The device read 4:30am, the glowing green letters contrasting boldly against the darkness of the room. Bruce let out another sigh. This was the third time tonight that he had woken up. He was having trouble sleeping in the recent weeks. He couldn't pinpoint why, but it was progressively getting worse. It started with him waking up in the middle of the night maybe once a week, but soon it began to get worse and now, when he did fall asleep, he could only rest for an hour or so before he was awake again. He was lucky to get 3 hours of sleep a night undisturbed. It was annoying and Bruce knew that if it continued to persist that it would be terrible for his health. He already noticed that he had begun having trouble concentrating and paying attention when he worked in the Lab, and his reasoning and problem solving abilities had been affected as well.

Bruce rolled over again, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling. He had enough trouble falling asleep and he knew that it'd be another hour or so of restless tossing and turning before he would fall into any sort of slumber again. Bruce had tried many methods to help remedy the situation, but he found that no matter what he did, he still couldn't seem to get a good night's sleep. 

After some thought, Bruce decided that he needed some help. "Hey Jarvis." He said into the air.

"It is rather late, Dr. Banner, are you having trouble sleeping again? My sensors indicate that you haven't been getting your recommended eight hours."

"Yeah... I haven't been able to sleep well for the past week..." Bruce said to the AI. "And I've tried everything, but I can't solve it... Do you have any suggestions?"

"As a doctor, you should know about the variety of medications which can help induce sleep."

"I'd rather not resort to that." Bruce stated. "Sleeping pills are just... not something I want to rely on."

"In that case, I would suggest listening to some relaxing music. There have been various different musical studies that have shown that certain songs can put the mind at ease and also lower the heart rate so it matches the tempo of the notes."

"Music... Hmm.. Yeah, worth a shot."

Bruce hadn't thought about using music to help him sleep. In past experience, if there was anything but silence, it would just keep him awake and prevent sleep even further. At this point though, the good doctor was desperate. And with the suggestion he set about finding some relaxing music. 

He pulled out the tablet that was in his night stand drawer and with a few quick taps, opened the internet browser and did a search on Starknet (Tony's own personal search engine. Made with the technology of Jarvis integrated so it obtained more reliable, and more relevant results)

A few websites came up, and he found a number of songs which looked capable of helping him relieve his sleeplessness. Just as he was about to go back to the previous webpage, he spotted a name in the artist listings that made him scroll and look again.

"What?" Bruce said to himself as he looked at the name. Surely he was reading it right, yet he still found himself not believing it. Tony Stark? Tony didn't sing. That couldn't be him... could it? Bruce didn't know of any other member of Tony's family sharing his name...

Overwhelming curiosity led the doctor to clicking on the name. The link brought him to another site where he could download the album associated with that name. The cover art of the album also showed up, and it undoubtedly was Tony in the picture. This was all so odd to Bruce. He felt as if he had just found out a big hidden secret about his friend. Why hasn't Tony told him? Or anyone, for that matter. Bruce never heard anyone else mention anything of it before.

Bruce debated with himself on whether or not be should give the songs a listen. His curiosity was already piqued, and he knew that if he didn't listen it would leave him wondering and effectively interrupt his sleep yet again. The unknown is is a powerful force which leaves disturbances in its wake until it becomes known. After a minute, Bruce couldn't help but click play on one of the songs, title evidently as "The Futurist". 

When the song started, it took Bruce by surprise for a moment. It was much different than what he expected of Tony. The song was soft and rhythmic with gentle instruments playing. Then the actual lyrics started. 

"Wow..." Bruce found himself saying as he heard Tony's voice. To say it was impressive was an understatement. The music and the vocals coincided well with one another, complimenting and bringing out the best in the other. It had that effect which drew you in and kept you listening. 

As one song ended, the next one of the album began. Before Bruce knew it, he opened his eyes - when had he closed them? - and then looked at the clock, realizing that he had been listening to the songs for nearly 20 minutes. He paused the music, thinking once again about how... amazing it was. There wasn't any other word to use in defining it. And it certainly had the relaxing quality that Bruce needed. But, could he really use Tony's secret for his own benefits? It didn't seem right...  
 _  
'But he doesn't have to find out. Just don't tell him.'_ His subconscious said to him.

After a second of thought, Bruce clicked the download button, saving the the album to his music library. With the files saved, he put them all in one folder, and then ask Jarvis to transfer the files to his MP3 player.

"Transfer complete." The AI said after a moment.

The doctor put his tablet away and took his mp3 player and headphones out of the same drawer. He put in the headphones and navigated to the new folder. He brought his blankets back over him, laying down more comfortably and pressed play once more. The songs he heard before played again and that sense of aw returned.

Before the second song finished playing, Bruce was fast asleep.

* * *

When he woke the next morning he found that he actually felt a lot better than when he woke up the day previous. He even noticed the difference in his concentration during the course of the day.

And so started a bit of a routine. 

Before Bruce would go to bed he would pull out his mp3 player and set it to play that album. And for many nights it helped him fall asleep without a so much as a stir.

Progressively, he found himself trying to keep himself awake longer just to hear more of the music, sometimes listening to the entire album before he allowed himself to sleep.

As innocently as it started, after a week or so of listening to the songs, Bruce started having some strange dreams.

One in particular was rather vivid and slightly embarrassing. It was quite a simple dream, Bruce was laying in his bed listening to the music as usual, but instead of the voice coming from his headphones, it was heard within the room itself. It seemed far away at first, but then slowly got closer until it was right next to his ear. He could feel the singers breath on his neck, and then two arms wrapped around him. 

Tony was in his room... in his bed... singing and cuddling with him... 

_Tony Stark was CUDDLING with him_

When Bruce woke from the dream, he felt a mixture of confusion and embarrassment. Why would he dream about Tony like that? He didn't want to really think about it and passed it off as an influenced dream. He was listening to the songs as he slept so the outside stimuli eventually made its way in and affected the outcome of the dream. Similar to how if an airplane flies over your house while you sleep, you might hear or see an airplane in your dreams.

As much as Bruce claimed that it was just the music influencing his REM sleep, the dream soon became reoccurring. It happened every night, but yet every time it was slightly longer than the last. The next time he had it, it was exactly the same except for when Dream Tony began to cuddle with him, he then went and softly placed a kiss on his forehead. The next time it was a forehead kiss, followed by a kiss on the cheek. Then the next dream added a kiss to the other cheek. Then Dream Tony added a kiss to the nose in the fourth reoccurance of the dream. 

When Bruce went to bed on the fifth night he had an idea of what the dream would add to the sequence of events this time. He felt awkward thinking about it, but yet... somehow... pleased.

Why was he pleased?

He pondered that thought as he fell asleep.

Bruce had been correct in guessing what the dream held next. This time, Dream Tony followed the same event sequence with the kiss to the forehead, the cheeks and then the nose. Then he paused for a moment, looking Bruce in the eyes before he ended slowly with a gentle kiss to the lips. 

When Bruce woke the following morning, he realized that he had a smile on his face. Yet, he elected to ignore that fact for now.

Bruce's embarrassment continued to grow, however, as the dreams progressed and bordered into... explicit territory. 

Which only made things more awkward when he was around Tony.

Bruce had tried to hold onto the theory that it was just the music making him dream like that. It was just the songs and the lyrics. That's all it was - External stimuli influenced dreaming - But he had begun to rethink that theory. Why was he having such dreams about Tony? About his best - and nearly only - friend? He did admit that he liked the man. Like as in, he respected him and appriciated the friendship they shared. He never thought of Tony in any other sense than that... But, perhaps... perhaps there was something deep down that he had felt for Tony...

Bruce thought back. When the dream started he remembered that he had began going to bed slightly earlier. Whether he knew of it at that time was that of the unknown, but it did say something. It said that he had wanted to go to sleep, not only to get rest, but also to experience the dreams again. It was as if he was anticipating the dreams every day. 

He thought more. Even when Bruce said that it was the music making him dream about Tony, he didn't stop listening to it. He continued to use it to help him fall asleep. Then there was the fact that when Dream Tony kissed him, he woke up the next morning with a wide smile.

_"Stop."_ Bruce reprimanded himself. _"Stop psychologically evaluating yourself. Don't do that. It's not good."_

These conflicted feelings left Bruce with not confusion as he expected, but more... acceptance. It was strange. For some reason, Bruce didn't feel completely adverse to the idea. Though, it did also bring a resounding sense of fear. Fear that if Tony found out about any of this - The music, Bruce's dreams or his _possible_ romantic feelings toward the engineer - That he would be put off by the notion. 

And Bruce certainly didn't want to lose his Best friend just because of some silly feelings..

* * *

Tony noticed that Bruce's sleeping patterns had gotten much better in the previous weeks. His work in the lab and level of concentration were upped greatly now that he was actually getting a good night sleep. As the weeks went on, however, he noticed that Bruce seemed to be... Ignoring him? Well not straight up ignoring him. He would still talk to him when they were working on a project in the lab, but it seemed that he was trying to avoid any extended conversation. Recently all they spoke about was whatever they were doing in the lab. Anything else, Bruce gave short replies and tried to end the conversation as fast as possible while still being subtle. It didn't anger Tony, but it made him Curious as to what was going on with his friend.

Why did Bruce seem so... Awkward around him? 

He thought he might know...  Had Bruce found out that Tony had a massive crush on him? 

Honestly, Tony certainly hoped so. It wasn't like he was being subtle about it. He had been dropping hints about his attraction for months and even openly flirted with the doctor on occasion when they were alone in the lab, even though Bruce seemed oblivious to it entierly. It was starting to get tiring actually. Tony had half a mind to just walk up to Bruce the next time he saw him and just pull him into a kiss like he had been wanting to do for ages. But, he knew that if Bruce didn't return the feelings that such actions would frighten him. 

He needed to know for sure that he was reading Bruce correctly, before he made any false assumptions.

After a particularly long night in the lab, Tony decided that he really needed to go sleep. Bruce had left not long before, and so, knowing this he detoured his way to Bruce's room to say goodnight to him. He knocked on the door, but hearing no reply he then turned the door knob and walked in. 

"Hey, Bruce, I just wanted to say -" Tony stopped when he saw that Bruce was already asleep. Tony ventured farther into the room, walking up to Bruce and finished his statement.  "...Good night."

Tony noticed that Bruce had his headphones, his mp3 player laying next to his pillow. Tony decided to move it so it wouldn't get tangled during the night while Bruce slept. He gently took the headphones out of the doctors ears, and then picked up the music player. As he picked it up his finger accidentally pressed the main button making the small screen light up. Tony had to do a double take at it and he stared for a moment in genuine surprise.

That was...

That was one of his songs... from all those years ago.

How were they on Bruce's music player? Tony never told Bruce, or anyone really. Only a few select people even knew about the songs in the first place - Tony made sure of that. Not that he was embarrassed by it. He just felt that it wasn't something that everyone needed to know, so he simply withheld the information. It definitely was a surprise to find out that Bruce had the songs.

Yet, Tony wasn't mad at the doctor, and thought it was kind of... flattering that Bruce was listening to it. It was a simple deduction to see that he was listening to it to help him fall asleep. The album itself was on repeat, so that eliminated the possibility that the song came on randomly. No, Bruce had intentionally played those songs and Tony found it to be cute.

Tony wrapped the headphones neatly around the music player and then set it on the nightstand before he quietly exited the room.

* * *

When the next morning arrived, Bruce awoke slowly and sat up. He had yet another good night's sleep and for that he was grateful. And, with that good night sleep there was still that reoccurring dream. Strangely, he had begun to get used to it. True, they still made him feel incredibly awkward, but even so the day to day reminder that he _may_ have other feelings for his friend were not unwelcomed. 

When Bruce reached up to scratch his head he noticed that his headphones weren't in. He looked over at his pillows and around on the floor but could find the music player. Then, when he reached for his glasses he saw it on the nightstand.

"How'd it get there?" He asked himself. Had he put it away in the middle of the night? "Yeah you put it away and somehow wrapped your headphones up nicely while you were sleeping... unlikely." If that wasn't the case then how did it get there? Was someone in his room last night? That seemed like the only other explanation...

And that wasn't the only thing that Bruce was thinking about. Knowing that someone had moved his music player during the night, it meant that his theory that music was causing the dream could be thrown out the window. Even without the music, Bruce had that same repeating dream which only further pushed him closer to the conclusion that he had feelings for Tony.

At breakfast Bruce was surprise to see that Tony was already awake. Usually Bruce was the first to rise in the morning. Bruce made his way into the kitchen and began to make himself breakfast.

The morning continued as normal with idle chit-chat as they both ate their food. Tony finished his quickly and got up. He then went over and turned on the radio. The station that came on was playing an older song that Tony didn't recognize. He didn't care what it was though, the music was just there for background noise.

Bruce heard the radio turn on, and when the song started playing he recognized the tune, "I like this song." He commented.

"Yeah, you have... interesting taste in music, don't you?" Tony said, turning around and facing Bruce.

Bruce was confused because of the way Tony said that. His voice sounded questioning and suspicious. "Hmm? What do you mean?" He asked.

"I think you know exactly what I mean, Bruce." Tony said with a smirk as he walked closer to the doctor. "I know your secret, Banner..."

Bruce immediately started to get nervous now, "Wh-what secret?"

Tony continued on "You know, Jarvis saves the search and download history of any device connected to the towers WiFi network." He paused for a moment, "I saw those songs you recently downloaded."

Bruce looked away from Tony, already feeling his face turn red. "I-I didn't mean to-"

"I'm flattered."

"Wait, You're - you're not... mad?" Bruce asked, still not looking at Tony.

"Mad?" Tony laughed in response. "How could I be mad? I think it's utterly adorable. And I think it makes me like you even more."

Bruce lifted his head at that statement. For a moment he couldn't speak. "You like -"

"Yes, Bruce. I do." Tony affirmed, "Honestly, I thought it was obvious. I've been flirting with you for months, waiting for you to take the hint."

"You- You... So, that one day that you were saying those horribly corny science pick up lines, you actually meant those... you weren't joking..." God, how had he had missed that? Bruce thought back to the past months, going over his conversations with Tony. How had he not noticed it? It was painfully obvious now that it was brought to his attention.

"Not joking in the slightest." Tony replied. "And also you obviously like me."

"I - I... Um..." Bruce sighed and Shook his head at himself, "Screw it, I'm not even going to lie. I can't deny that I feel something for you.

"I'm glad you agree." Tony says with a smirk. He didn't let Bruce say anything in reply because he shut him up by placing a hand behind his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss.

And oooh. If Bruce thought that Dream Tony kissing him was good, than this was 221 times better. This wasn't a dream, this was real and that simple fact made the doctors feelings even stronger. There was no build up to this kiss. It didn't start out soft and progressively get more heated. It was heated from the start and only continued to get more passionate and possesive as it went on. 

When they broke apart, Tony rested his forehead on Bruce's, "Jarvis also monitors dream activity." He blurted out. "I had no idea that you could be so dirty minded Dr. Banner."

"Perhaps you're rubbing off on me." Bruce replied.

"I would certainly say so." Tony laughed, "Why don't we go see if you can make some of those dreams become reality?"

They smirked at each other and set about doing just that.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while now and I figured I'd finally get around to writing it.
> 
> The idea behind this is actually a personal experience. I sometimes deal with rather strong bouts of insomnia where I can't fall asleep (lol, like tonight) and even wake up in the middle of the night. I found a long while ago that RDJ had an album, and I downloaded it just out of curiosity. And then I come to find out that the songs on that album actually helped me fall asleep. And now still, whenever I can't fall asleep, I just put on RDJ's album and I fall asleep within 10 minutes.
> 
> So, my mind said, _"Hey, how about Bruce finds out that Tony did some singing and then uses those to fall asleep. And then Tony can find out somehow and then there can be fluff and cuteness."_
> 
> Before you ask, No I haven't had dreams about Tony/RDJ like Bruce did.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the fic!


End file.
